60 



The Journal of Heredity 



mammals this question may be con- 

 trolled, since vigorous individuals with 

 no physical weakness may be selected 

 for study. 



One of the most interesting human 

 cases is that Forel cites as recorded 1)\' 

 Schwcighofer. A normal woman married 

 a nonnal man and had three sound 

 children. The husband died and the 

 woman married a drunkard and gave 

 birth to three other children; one of 

 these became a drunkard; one had 

 infantilism, while the third was a social 

 degenerate and dnmkard. The first two 

 of these children contracted tubercu- 

 losis, which had never before been in 

 the family. The woman married a third 

 time and by this sober husband again 

 produced sound children. This is a 

 logical experiment, — the female was 

 first tested with a normal male and gave 

 normal children; when mated with an 

 alcoholic male the progeny wer_' de- 

 fective. She was later tested again with 

 a normal male and found to be cai)able 

 of producing sound offspring. A number 

 of such cases are on record but all are 

 open to the question whether the de- 

 fective offspring are actually due to the 

 effects of the poison on the parent, or 

 to the fact that the parent may have 

 been weak and degenerate from the 

 beginning. 



ALL ANLMALS TESTED. 



For our experiments to demonstrate 

 the effects of alcoholization in guinea 

 jjigs, we take j^ains to select normal, 

 healthy animals, and in all cases they are 

 first tested by a normal mating in order 

 to establish their ability to produce 

 vigorous offsjjring. After such a test the 

 treatments are begun. During the 

 experiments the treated males and 

 females are mated from time to time 

 with normal animals, and in addition, 

 control matings of normal individuals 

 are made. Some of the specimens are 

 treated with alcohol and ether. These 

 substances were u.sed since they readily 

 act ujjon animal cells and since I had 

 studied their effects on the develoimient 

 of fish embr\-os and found them to cause 

 rather definite and easily recognizable 

 defects in the central nervous system and 

 organs of special sense. 



In the beginning of the experiments 

 alcohol was given along with the food, 

 but the animals ate less and the food 

 did not apjiarently agree with them. It 

 was then administered in dilute form by 

 a stomach tube; this method disturbed 

 digestion and seemed to upset the 

 animals considerably. It is certain that 

 alcohol given to animals through the 

 stomach deranges their digestion and 

 appetite to such an extent that the 

 experimenter is unable to determine 

 whether the resulting effects are due 

 to the alcohol, as such, or to the general 

 deranged condition of the animal. 

 When given in the drinking water they 

 take little or none of the water and 

 the treatment is insufficient. For these 

 reasons an inhalation method of treat- 

 ment has been resorted to which, as far 

 as experience goes, has no serious dis- 

 advantages and does not complicate 

 the conditions of the experiment. 



METHOD OF INTOXICATION. 



A fume tank of copper is made of 

 sufficient size to sujjply breathing space 

 for four or five guinea-pigs at one time. 

 The tank is arranged with four outlets, 

 so that definite amounts of the fumes 

 may be passed through in a given time 

 and the ventilation controlled. In this 

 way each animal could be given about 

 the same amount of the substances. 

 The indi\'iduals, however, differ so in 

 their resistance to the treatment that 

 it has been found better to treat all to 

 about the same degree of intoxication. 

 This physiological index is more re- 

 liable as each animal is thus affected in 

 a similar fashion each day. For this 

 purjiose they are jjlaced in the fume 

 tank on a wire screen, and al:)Sorbent 

 cotton soaked with alcohol is ])laced 

 beneath the screen, and the animals 

 inhale the fumes. 



Ether is given in a similar manner, 

 except that the animals are much more 

 readily overcome and must be carefull\- 

 watched while inhaling even the most 

 dilute do.ses. 



In order to avoid handling the females 

 during late pregnancy, a si)ecial treating 

 cage is devised. An ordinary box-run 

 with a covered nesL in which the animal 

 lives is connected by a drop-door with 



